Some suggested action for US members of ecofem ...
A CALL TO ACTION
To our fellow citizens :
Twenty-five years after the first Earth Day, we have reason to be
pleased. Environmental awareness is high. Air is cleaner, drinking
water is safer, we've upgraded and expanded our system of national
parks, and pollution prevention and resource conservation technologies
are paying off for many companies. So we have reason to be optimistic
about the future? Right?
Unfortunately not. The new Congress, brought to power on a wave of
anti-government anger, feels a mandate to reform government. However,
while the Contract With America may reflect public frustration with
some aspects of government, it contains no mention of the environment.
The American people have not given anyone a mandate to dilute or
dismantle environmental laws. There has been no public request for
bills currently being proposed in Congress that would weaken clean
air, clean water, and toxic waste legislation; that would sell off
national parks and allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge; or that would eliminate the Endangered Species Act. In fact,
national polls continually show broad, bipartisan public support for
maintaining or strengthening environmental protection.
Earth Day 1995, our day to celebrate America's commitment to the
environment, gives us the opportunity to meet this challenge by coming
together in a massive show of participatory democracy. In the
grassroots tradition of the first Earth Day, millions of us with a
common purpose, can reaffirm and express our collective support for
the environment and for the laws which protect the air we breathe, the
water we drink, and the wildlife with which we share the earth. What
better way to express our participation than by adding an
environmental amendment to the "Contract" mandating Congress to
maintain the best of current environmental safeguards and to expand
them where necessary in the years ahead.
No matter what your party or positions, we challenge you to join with
us in taking an Earth Day Pledge of action. There is power in numbers,
and there are millions, many millions, of Americans who care about the
environment.
SHOW YOUR PERSONAL COMMITMENT TO ACTION ON THIS 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF EARTH DAY
BY PLEDGING TO COMPLETE THE 3 SIMPLE STEPS OUTLINED BELOW:
_________________________________________________________________
EARTH DAY 25 ACTION PLEDGE
I agree to take responsibility for completing the following THREE
SIMPLE ste= ps:
ACTION STEP 1: On the weekend of Earth Day (April 22 and 23), I will
write letters or send post card messages to:
President Clinton House Speaker Gingrich Senate Majority Leader Dole
One of my two senators My district congressman
INTENT: All of these cards should be waiting in their offices when
Congress reconvenes May 1.
ACTION STEP 2. Between 6AM and 8PM on Wednesday May 3, I will PHONE,
FAX, OR E-MAIL short messages to the following:
House Speaker Gingrich Senate Majority Leader Dole My other senator My
district congressman
INTENT: If tens or hundreds of thousands, and hopefully millions, of
people are calling, it will be hard for Congress and the media to
ignore the message.
ACTION STEP 3 . WITHIN ONE WEEK of signing this pledge, I will contact
5 people who I know well ANYWHERE in the U.S., and particularly in
states where Senators or Congressmen have questionable environmental
records, and convince them to complete the three simple steps of this
pledge.
INTENT: IF we begin with 100 people in Hawaii the week of March 27,
and these people each enlist 5 others nationwide, if this only
multiplies once a week, we will have 1,562,500 people on board by May
3. If, however, each of us can get 5 people to commit in less than a
week, we could conceivably have 7,812,500 people sending messages by
May 3. The impact of this could be tremendous.
SIGNED_____________________________
DATE_______________________________
_________________________________________________________________
SAMPLE E-MAIL LETTER AND POSTCARD MESSAGES
The following samples show one way of getting your message across.
Remember that personal letters, faxes, or postcards are given greater
attention than form letters by your Senator or Representative. Your
message to Congress will be most effective if you do not copy this
letter verbatim but instead rewrite it in your own words, perhaps
adding information on environmental concern in your community.
To E-MAIL a Senator or Congressperson, you can copy and paste the text
below into an e-mail message. For your convenience, we have included a
list of Congressional E-Mail Address
. If you prefer to write, phone, or fax, we can also link you with a
comprehensive list of Congressional Contact Information.
SAMPLE LETTER OR EMAIL
Feel free to copy and paste this into an e-mail message.
_________________________________________________________________
Dear Representative _______________,
I am concerned that a number of bills currently before Congress may
have the effect of weakening our nation's commitment to protecting
environmental quality and public health. While Congress may feel it
has a mandate for government reform, diluting and dismantling
environmental safeguards was not called for in the Contract With
America and was certainly not requested or approved by the American
people.
Environmental laws such as the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and
Endangered Species Act have been key to improving and safeguarding the
quality of our air and drinking water, and in protecting America's
wildlife and wild lands. Broad bipartisan majorities of Americans have
consistently supported strengthening -- not weakening -- programs to
improve air and water quality and protect our natural heritage.
Legislation currently being proposed that will relax rules on the
dumping of contaminated water into urban reservoirs or force taxpayers
to pay landowners not to use their property in a way that harms the
surrounding community and environment runs counter to values of public
responsibility.
I am depending on you to represent the voices of your local
communities and ecosystems that need your help rather than the voices
of other special interests seeking to weaken environmental safeguards.
Please contact me to confirm that you are listening to the folks back
home.
_________________________________________________________________
SAMPLE POSTCARD OR E-MAIL MESSAGES
Feel free to Copy and Paste this into an e-mail message
_________________________________________________________________
Dear ________: We don't think that the Contract with America is a
mandate to dismantle our environmental laws. Please protect our clean
air, clean water, and endangered species.
Dear ________: Forcing taxpayers to compensate landowners for not
polluting or for protecting endangered species is ridiculous. Good
neighbors should not have to pay bad neighbors to stop using their
property in a way that harms the surrounding community.
Dear ________: We are concerned about the plight of endangered species
and the habitats on which they depend. Protect America's wildlife and
our wild lands. Please vote to reauthorize the Endangered Species Act.
Dear ________: We depend on air that is safe to breathe for ourselves,
our children, and our children's children. We do not want to give
loopholes to pollutors. Maintain the integrity of the Clean Air Act.
Dear ________: We depend on water that is safe for drinking,
recreation, and supporting wildlife. I count on you to vote against
efforts to weaken the Clean Water Act.
_________________________________________________________________
ADDRESSES AND NUMBERS
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
President Bill Clinton 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
UNITED STATES CONGRESS
CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP
Rep. Newt Gingrich
Speaker of the House
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sen. Bob Dole
Senate Majority Leader
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
YOUR STATE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION
To E-MAIL a Senator or Congressperson, you can copy and paste the text
below into an e-mail message. For your convenience, we have included a
list of Congressional E-Mail Address
. If you prefer to write, phone, or fax, we can also link you with a
comprehensive list of Congressional Contact Information.
You can call your Representative and Senators' offices through the
Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.
_________________________________________________________________
OTHER POLITICAL SITES
A Congression Scorecard on environmental voting records.
A List of Political/Envronmental links
Carolyn Chase, Earth Day Network,San Diego
